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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Prior to receiving Peter Kater's latest CD Love (Mysterium Music), I had heard the pianist-composer's work on numerous Silver Wave and Canyon Record albums as well as, having associated his name with new age music. When I received his lengthy biography of achievements and the CD, I was more interested in the music speaking to me. After all, I spend most of my time reading and writing which leaves me with stress and migraines. It's rare that I can read through an entire bio these days.

Thankfully, Kater's CD brought some healing to my head and my heart so I listened to the album several times (I don't often do this with albums mainly because I have over a thousand recordings, most of which I have reviewed over the past ten plus years). I opened the windows of my apartment allowing the music to drift outside where people could stroll by and absorb the enchanting piano and love offering.

The following interview took place via e-mail and I'm honored to post it here.

Whole Music Experience: Your new album,
Love which features solo piano has had a powerful healing effect during
a stressful week for me. I read in the press notes that you have set
the intention to produce healing music since your first collaboration
with R. Carlos Nakai. What was it in your collaboration with Nakai that
moved you so deeply to turn away from jazz and embrace healing music?

Peter Kater: It was so long ago, I don’t remember. Ha ha.

I
wasn’t embracing healing music as much as I became attracted to doing
music that came from a more essential place inside of me. The fact
that it was (is) healing wasn’t really the goal. It just seemed
natural, pure, and effortless. One doesn’t set out to do healing
music. One allows the music to heal oneself and then is moved to play
music from that place from that healing. Then in the listening
back to that music other people resonate with the healing that has and
is always occurring, which can then resonate and invite their own
healing.

WME: On your new album you focus on the various aspects of love ranging from
romance and intimacy to compassion to passion. You include both
compositions and improvisations, do you ever feel like you’re channeling
this music?

PK: It’s only channeled.

WME: Besides love, what else inspired you to record this album? Do you think
of your listening audience while you compose and record or is there
some musical place you go (such as a trance), where you allow the flow
of music to wash over you?

WME: Your career is impressive as is your humble beginnings. What essence
has stayed with you since your days in Colorado renting out churches to
perform your music to playing with renowned musicians and making
appearances Carnegie Hall?

I believe strongly in the Law of Attraction
and I’m sure that
there are thousands of musicians, sound healers, and music therapists
who would love to know how you journey from point A to point B. Did you
take many risks, land in the right place at the right time?

PK: To
answer that would be more like a few chapters in a book rather than a
quick interview question. But to answer briefly, it’s all a risk. There are no assurances. It’s all about trust and faith and doing what
you have to do because you have no choice. You journey from point A
to B one step at a time, hopefully without thinking about it too much. Actually, thinking is one of the most undermining things you can do
in creative process. I landed where I landed. It’s all about faith and surrender. You can’t plan a life or anything creative. It
unfolds and you show up (or not).

WME: You have collaborated with several Native American musicians including
Nakai, Kevin Locke, Mary Youngblood, Robert Mirabel, Joanne Shenandoah
and others. I also took a listen to the albums, How the West was Lost,
volumes 1 and 2, which is some ways reminded me of the multimedia work
Edward Curtis did in preserving Native American cultures.

What
is the process for you in melding western well-tempered piano and
keyboards with indigenous flute and other music traditions?

PK: I
open myself up to the energy and ideas and music starts coming in. I
don’t have a process. I wait and Listen. Music is all about
listening, not about being creative. I listen and wait until I hear
something. And then I start to write or play. When I stop hearing
it, then I stop. Faith, trust, presence and surrender. No second
guessing. No self-doubt. Just surrender to what is.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Toning into the Realm of Weightlessness
Purposeful and intentional sound/music just took on a new meaning for me. Lyz Cooper (researcher/musician/teacher/sound therapist), combines psychoacoustics and music therapy to create sound therapy-with the difference coming from designing intentional sound recordings for the purpose of relaxation, changing brain patterns, and healing the mind-body-spirit.

Cooper teaches at the British Academy of Sound Therapy, has penned two books exploring the healing power of sound, has produced sound therapy recordings, and she collaborated with Radox Spa and the ambient music band Marconi Union on the popular relaxation piece, Weightless (see video at the bottom of post). She is also a regular contributor to the Musical Healers group on Linked In (an intimate 600 member group that discussing the frontier of music vibration).

Whole Music
Experience: Who were your mentors and or inspiration for doing sound healing
work?

Lyz Cooper:Two
people I was doing some PR work for - a woman called Surya who ran drum circles
and a man called Gandiva who worked with the gong, were my first contact with
the therapeutic power of sound, but it wasn’t until a while later that I
considered sound healing for myself. Looking back I believe that Surya and
Gandiva ignited sparks in my subconscious and I am grateful to them for that. Michael
Ormiston and Rollin Rachelle were the first overtone singers I ever experienced
and both blew me away! Although they were approaching their art more from a
musical angle at the time I could feel the energy moving in my body and so they
also ignited a spark.

Sadly I didn’t have any mentors in the early days but lots
of people over the years have inspired me and continue to do so as I read about
their work and research. My students inspire me as they tell me about the wonderful
results they are having.

WME: I noticed two
recordings of yours listed on your website (Emergence and Chakra Balance). Are
these recordings based on your compositions or are they collaborations such as
with the piece “Weightless” for the Radox Spa?

LC: Chakra Balance is mainly my composition but I also
received input from my business partner at that time, Anne Fleming as well as
the guys in the studio, and Al Grandy on keys was a great help. Emergence is a
collaboration with my group, Soundscapes comprising Lianne Fagon, Clifford Sax
and myself.

WME: Speaking of
“Weightless,” I listened to it on YouTube and I did notice my otherwise super
tense body relaxing. You employed several techniques such as including an
abstract melody, a repeatable rhythm at 60 beats per minute, slowing to 50
beats, low tones, musical intervals such as the perfect 5th and
octave as well as, an ancient musical scale.

How did this
collaboration with the Radox Spa and the ambient group Marconi Union come
about? What was the process like of working with the musicians on this relaxing
piece?

LC: It is wonderful that you found Weightless relaxing.

I was contacted by Radox’s PR company asked if I would
collaborate so I said yes. To be honest, I would have rather composed the piece
myself but Marconi Union was already in place for this project so that was OK.

I had a meeting with
Marconi Union, their agent and music label, and Radoxs’ PR company and told
Marconi Union what ‘sonic vitamins’ (as I call them), to use.They came back with a couple of pieces and I
sat and ‘tuned in’ to each piece, choosing the best version which we then discussed
and tweaked a few times until it was ready.It them went to Mindlab for testing and then was officially launched.
See (insert YouTube link) for the making of Weightless.
The process was an interesting one at first they were not as open to the
process and took the micky a bit, but one band member, Richard, was quite
interested and we had a few conversations.Now they are much more open and I believe have launched an album based
on the properties of the original Weightless
piece we created together.

My company, MindMu concentrate on what we call ‘consciously
designed music’.I acknowledge that is a
grey area because one could say that many composers design music consciously,
but I guess what we are saying when we use this term is that we are consciously
employing certain methods that are known to have an effect on the body and
mind. We hope to be launching more pieces soon.

WME: You also published
a book on sound healing with daily exercises called Sounding the Mind of God. Tell me about the premise of the book,
when it was originally published and the public’s response to it?

LC: Sounding the Mind
of God was launched in 2009 in English and in 2010 in German.The aim of the book was to demystify the
ancient art of therapeutic sound and to present my method, which I guess you
could call more ‘sound therapy’ than ‘sound healing’.Although there is some cross-pollination of
the two approaches, my personal definition is that sound healing is the effect
that sound has on the system regardless - ‘passively’, if you like.Sound therapy is the reflective element – it
is the individual’s exploration of the sound as it interacts with them and the
meaning they derive from this interaction.

I am fascinated about knowing as much as I can about how and
why things work and I love research.I
saw Sounding the Mind of God as a way
to bring together lots of different research, opinions, and views to help
explain how and why sound can be such a powerful therapeutic tool.I also wanted to bring the written word to
life by giving lots of different exercises that people could do to help to feel
the effect of the sound. This is the proof of the pudding, if you like.

I have had a really good response to the book, so much so
that it was translated into German the following year and is also on Kindle.Although my work and research has moved on
now, I continue to get emails from people that have received clarity about how
sound can be therapeutic, as well as benefit from using the exercises in the
book.

I am currently working on my second book, What is Sound Healing which is due out
in February 2016.

WME: If you haven’t
already covered this with the first question, I’m interested in how you applied
sound healing to recover from a life-limiting illness as you refer to it on
your website?

As I mentioned in question one, I had done some PR work for
a couple of people working with sound and music so it was in my
consciousness.I had been very ill and
had left my job in advertising during which time I began using my voice,
scanning my system, and toning into certain areas, changing the pitch until I
felt that it was helping me. I began to feel the benefit almost straight away. When
I was well enough to go out of the house, I purchased a singing bowl and
noticed that it had a slightly different effect.

This was when I knew that something very
special was happening and that I needed to know more. I continued to use the
voice, breath, visualization and the singing bowls for a while and started
developing techniques based on these methods. I then began to look for other
tools to work with and travelled a lot, working with indigenous people and teachers.Twenty years later I have added crystal
bowls, drums, mantra, tuning forks and gong to my repertoire and teach a range
of courses in 1-2-1 and community sound and voice therapy at The British
Academy of Sound Therapy.

I am also continuing to research and develop my techniques. My
latest piece of research concentrated on the therapeutic application of sound
induced altered states of consciousness for my MSc in Applied Music
Psychology.The results of this research
will be available shortly.

Followers

About Me

I am a musician, instructor, novelist and veteran arts journalist with an interest in the healing powers of music. I am the author of Whole Music (Soul Food for the Mind Body Spirit). I launched The Whole Music Experience in 2007 to promote the healing potential of mainly traditional and classical music. I started teaching music awareness workshops in 2009.
I also post articles on World Music Central and contribute to print publications.
I believe that high vibrational music heals individuals and communities through cultural exchange, music preservation and music therapy. Music, similar to prayer and meditation moves us to a place deep within us, thus promoting peace, but it depends on the music too.
I've published articles in Global Rhythm, World Music Central, Early Music America, Skagit Valley Herald "A & E Monthly," and other fine music publications.

Endorsement for a Whole Music Experience workshop

I took the “Developing a Healthy Music Diet” class in winter quarter and had a great time with it. The musical examples Patricia provided in class were diverse and stimulating. The experiential part was easy to manage and I achieved a beneficial result for my health and well-being – releasing a stress pattern and obtaining restful sleep for the first time in many weeks!

I recommend this class to anyone who is interested in expanding and enriching their consciousness of how the music they listen to, or could be listening to, affects their quality of life, or to anyone who works in a healing profession and utilizes environmental music or sound as a complementary modality. I also highly recommend visiting Patricia’s expansive blog on healing music (The Whole Music Experience). ---Allan Tamm

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To St. Francesco & St. Chiara of Assisi

May we all lift our voices in songs of joy & treat all creatureswith love & respect.

Disclaimer:

This blog is meant to suggests ideas and projectsthat might be healing to a community or an individual.If readers have a specific health problem,the advice is to see a qualified health provider.What works for one person, might not for another.

This blog features an array of healing musicfrom community projects, cultural preservationto sound healing.